F1 can be a confusing place for the
uninitiated, on one hand you have the battle of the drivers and their
skill behind the wheel but on the other you have the ongoing
development battle the teams have to produce the best piece of
machinery for their drivers. The FIA set the regulations the teams
need to adhere to when designing their cars but this is where the
waters start to muddy. The rules can be pushed and bent to suit the
requirement of the particular team and can be interpreted either on
their own or in combination with another rule. Teams also use syntax
to their advantage and so if a rule cannot be determined to be
correct one way or another they will use this to their advantage.
You will have undoubtedly have heard 'it's not within the spirit of
the rules' unfortunately for the FIA the rules are written and if
they are not correctly worded the teams will use this to their
advantage.

In most circumstances the pressure to
re-word/ban a new system/innovation/component won't come from the FIA
originally but will be insisted upon by the other teams who feel
another is gaining an unfair advantage. The inherent problem with
one team finding an advantage is that it takes time, money and
resources for other teams to understand, develop and implement their
own iteration for their package. Dependent on the particular
component this can be extremely difficult to implement due to the
design being intrinsically linked to the cars original design path.

Some of my Twitter followers may have
seen me use the hashtag #InnovateOrGoHome of which is my way of
siding with the team who face their innovation being banned.
Innovation is one of the key elements of F1 and drives forward it's
position as the pinnacle of motorsport. Design features seen at the
top tier of motorsport will invariably find their way to our road
cars of the future and so choking development could be bad for us
all.

This season has seen Red Bull seemingly
pushing the limits more than most but they are not the only team to
have to change their car specification in order to comply with the
FIA's regulations. However as double world champions the spotlight
is on the Red Bull team and so whenever a team can find a way to
question the legality of their car it would be fruitful to do so.

At Hockenheim Red Bull ran a pedal map that
acted in contravention of how Article 5.5.3 was meant but as the
statement was ambiguous the team couldn't be penalised. The FIA have
since moved to clarify the wording of this regulation in order to
prevent it's usage in the future. Essentially the map used by Red
Bull in Hockenheim limited the torque available to the driver by
offsetting the pedal position to the power being produced. This
aided in both increased drivability and a more continuous exhaust
airflow allowing the exhaust gasses to provide aerodynamic advantage
even when the driver was curtailing his throttle usage.

In Montreal the FIA investigated Red
Bull's use of adjustment of the front suspension by hand via the
driver. This would glean a large advantage if done between
qualifying and the race as in Q1 the car would be at it's lightest
(low fuel run) after which point the car is filled with race fuel and
so the equilibrium of the car is altered. Being able to adjust
either the height/stiffness of the car could lead to a large
advantage. This is an operation that under Article 34.5 would mean
starting from the pitlane if done during Parc Ferme conditions (ie
between sessions) So what does this actually mean was being done I
hear you say. Well the adjustment limits the minimum ride height
thus allowing an unchanged aero platform giving a similar aero
platform whether full or empty of fuel. Its unclear if the system
was being employed by the team and whether the adjustment could be
made by hand or by foot. If it were in use it would be another
situation in which Red Bull have used the wording in the regulations
in order to gain an advantage.

This leads me onto McLaren who
themselves this season have fell foul of using the wording in the
regulations in order to try and glean an advantage. In China the FIA
clarified their stance on the way McLaren had designed the tea tray
area of the car. The area has an allowable tolerance of 3mm in the
design process, however McLaren were intentionally designing their
tea tray to be at the limit of the tolerance. This allowed them to
run with less ride height at the front as the tea tray almost tilted
upward.

Before the start of the season Lotus
had also developed their own reactive ride solution which was
suitably banned by the FIA in fear that a war would form between the
teams to gain both a stability and aerodynamic advantage. The system
had already caused a stir amongst the teams and both Mercedes and
Ferrari were said to be a fair way into having their own variant
before the FIA banned the device.

F1 teams will always push the
boundaries of the regulations put out before them and personally I
see no reason to stop this. Without innovation F1 would become a
spec series which is something that would be of detriment not only to
the sport but the road car industry at large. They may have been
banned but without innovation we wouldn't have had ground effects,
the Brabham fan car, mass damper, F Ducts, Double Deck Diffusers,
Blown Diffusers, Double DRS etc etc. In my opinion as long as they
don't provide an issue to safety innovation in F1 should be lauded
not frowned upon. I have seen many outbursts through social media by fans unhappy that Red Bull have continuously 'broken the rules' this season, I don't see it this way they are simply pushing the boundaries. A decision on it's legality should be provided
instantly by the FIA and the rules adjusted appropriately if it's
deemed to be inappropriate. This would stop the massive race teams
have to gain a similar or better advantage from the device(s) in
question. Much like teams adopting Double Deck Diffusers or F Ducts
when they were deemed legal putting a huge strain on both resources
and costs for the teams. F1 for me wouldn't be the same sport
without the current technological environment we have so I part
company by once again saying #InnovateOrGoHome

Lotus had come to Hockenheim already
stating they had 'interesting' upgrades to test. The interesting
upgrade centres around a DDRS system. Lotus race pace this season
has been amongst the best but due to a lack of raw pace during
qualifying and some unfortunate luck they have been found slightly
adrift on race day. In an attempt to bring their car closer to the
front in qualifying a DDRS system should add more pace throughout
qualifying where DRS is unlimited in its usage and maybe add a small
increase in performance during the race.

Unlike the complicated Mercedes DDRS
system that employs tubes from the Front to Rear wings the Lotus
system echoes the original F Duct principles:

The two ducts either side of the airbox
inlet feed air down the engine cover toward ayet unspecified source
as soon as more information is available I'll post it. However I'd
hazard a guess at either the starter hole or due to the central
portion of the Diffuser Gurney having a slot the air exits out the
bottom section of the engine covers cooling exit. Either of these
will effectively help the diffuser and increase rear end downforce.

As we can see in the picture below a
small feed (Periscope) is also present as the exchanger between the bottom wing
element and the collector at the beam wing. This acts as the switch
and is actuated by the DRS flap above being opened (Much like the
Mercedes variant, although again without the necessary close up shots
of that area I can't be 100% accurate) When DRS is active the air
usually feeding the lower section of the engine cover or starter hole
is then drawn upward and exits out of the rear of the engine cover,
the addition of a cleverly shaped cover / monkey seat helps to keep
the flow managed without disrupting the flow as it exits from the
rear of the car.

To break it down here is a couple of quick pictures I mocked up in MSPaint in order to show the flow pattern when DRS is active and inactive

Above: DRS is inactive and so the air being scavenged by the ducts next to the airbox inlet is sent to the lower exit (Possibly the Starter hole or the lower cooling exit)

Above: With DRS active holes hidden under the Rear Wings Main Plane act use the air to re-divert the air from the airbox inlets and exit it out of the engine cover cooling hole (which is now extended by the addition of the shapely Monkey Seat)

Above: Showing the system from the rear the engine cover now extends close to the appropriately shaped monkey seat which extends the engine covers reach past the beam wing. On top of the engine cover you can see the periscope tubing which connects the cover to rear wing plane and acts as part of the fluid switch

Above: Slotted Diffuser Gurney as mentioned above the airflow is most likely exiting from the lower portion of the engine cover and having the slot in the Gurney here will intensify the effect of the diffuser in central portion

Above In this image you can see where the lower portion of the engine cover exits (Circled in Red) and does so in the same region of the diffuser gurney slot aft of it

Above: Basic Diagram showing the predicted airflow pattern of the Lotus System: Yellow indicates the airflow entering the ducts next to the airbox which when DRS is inactive exits lower in the cooling exit (light blue) in order to boost the diffusers effectiveness. When DRS is active a hole in the lower rear wing plane is uncovered and air interacts via the periscope duct (Green) and acts much like the old F Duct system moving the airflow to the top exit of the engine cover and through the Monkey Seat (Red)

Other side effects of the Airbox Ear Ducts

The other interesting aspect behind the utilisation of such ducts around the airbox is for 'air spillage', over recent seasons this hasn't been a problem as the engine has been continually consuming air (Off Throttle Diffuser Blowing). However now the use of off throttle blowing has been curtailed when the driver lifts out of the throttle the required amount of air entering the airbox inlet isn't so large. This effectively creates a blockage and so the airflow stagnates (builds up) and then cascades over the sides of the engine cover. This type of airflow is disruptive and effects the bodywork aft of the airbox. As this occurs during the braking and turning in phase it's quite an undesirable effect as it reduces the effectiveness of the Rear Wing aswell as any residual effect on downforce the exhaust plume may have. The ducts added to the sides of the airbox inlet act as catchment devices for the airflow during these off throttle moments. This helps to keep airflow heading toward the rear wing uniform resulting in a downforce gain during braking/cornering. During normal driving conditions the ducts simply carry additional airflow to the rear of the car.

In summary the Lotus system should boost downforce performance whilst the DRS is inactive and lift the effect when DRS is in use. Ideal for Lotus' quest for a better qualifying performance and will help with additional downforce during the race

The McLaren team were supposed to bring
a large raft of upgrades to their home GP at Silverstone,
unfortunately the rain put pay to the majority of testing time during
FP1 & FP2 and so they decided to abandon the larger part of their
upgrade package. The upgrades / adjustments that were run at
Silverstone I mentioned in my roundup:
http://finalsector.co.uk/silverstone-gp-technical-roundup/

At Hockenheim the team have their new
sidepod, exhaust configuration on show which features a new cooling
entry profile at the front and much more tightly packaged slope
toward the exhaust channel. The frontal undercut has been smoothed
and so is less aggressive whilst at the rear the overhanging bodywork
that includes the exhuast channel that overhangs the floor has a more
aggressive undercut. Taking a cue from Ferrari the team have also
added some shark gills aft of the exhaust channel in the engine
cover.

I'm yet to find any pictures of the front brake housing / assembly to see if they have carried over the pit stop adjustable front brake housing from Silverstone. (This was not run during the race)

Above: Hockenheim build up, notice the different sculpting to the underside of the sidepod compared to the previous package below.

Above: For reference here is the previous sculpting for the sidepod undercut which appears to have a more angular cut under the cooling entry.

Above: We can see from the picture above the much more rounded corner profiles of the sidepod cooling entry rather than the angular ones used previously (Flow Viz on the top right corner of the sidepod for evaluation)

Above: A closer look at the vortex generator fins a 3rd fin has been added to the top of the sidepod to direct the airflow

Above: Jenson at Silverstone as reference to show the more angular sidepod cooling entry

Above: A more detailed look at the sidepod cooling entry at Hockenheim

Above: Great angle across the floor to see how the bodywork in the exhaust channel hangs over the floor

Above: It's clear to see how the bodywork drops away from the frontal edge of the sidepod towards the exhaust channel. This is has been implemented to aid the downwash toward the exhaust channel. Aft of the exhaust channel you can also see the addition of the 3 shark gills (similar to Ferrari's design) which will eject some of the airflow from the internal sidepod/engine cover flow. This helps to condition the airflow in this attracting the flow toward the coke bottle region.

Above: Rear Wing Top plane has been shortened, this will have an effect on both AoA available and also DRS's effectiveness. From this angle it's clear to see the slope that the sidepod now takes toward the exhaust channel

Above: Front Wing as used previously in Silverstone, this wing has vertical dividers around halfway on the wing planes.

Images used are copyright their original owners: Sutton Images & Nextgen-auto.com

The use of Off Throttle exhaust blowing is not something the teams will simply forget about, with anything in life once learnt you can't simply unlearn it. Some of the teams are pushing the limits of what is able to be achieved with this years rules in regards to off throttle mapping.

During 2011 the teams were using aggressive off throttle maps in order to get a continued exhaust gas flow whilst the driver was off throttle using 'Hot Blowing'. Put simply when the driver lifted off the accelerator pedal the ECU continued to supply a small injection of fuel but cut the ignition, the net result is that the fuel still combusts due to residual heat but doesn't provide the same force it would if ignited. This results in an increased exhaust gas speed, effectively allowing a transition period whereby the driver isn't robbed of the rear downforce that the exhaust gases generate when the throttle is applied.
It is also possible to 'Cold Blow' which is essentially a leaning out process wherby you introduce less fuel to air ratio up until the point whereby you're 'Off Throttle' where the exhaust valves are still open, pumping nearly all of the air from the cylinders.

For 2012 the FIA altered the rules to try and restrict the teams using off throttle blowing to aerodynamically influence their cars. Firstly by restricting the exhaust outlets to vent to atmosphere atop of the bodywork rather than placed inside the bodywork above the floor. Secondly they amended the regulations in regard to engine mapping, torque deliverance, clutch position/usage etc. Although the FIA would love nothing more than to have Off Throttle mapping totally outlawed the engine manufacturers requested that a certain element remained in order to safeguard the engines. This obviously leaves room for the teams to pick holes in the regulations in order to further extract aerodynamic advantage from off throttle blowing, be it Hot or Cold Blowing to create downforce.

It is clear that the effect has been dramatically reduced from 2011 where the cars sounded distinctly different to how they do now under deceleration / cornering. (See the video below)

However I think what it is important to realise is that the Off Throttle blowing is still happening even if it's effect is dampened. It's usage this season is not as aggressive as before but it still allows a transition period for the downforce to dissipate from the car rather than it suddenly be robbed. It's also important to realise that it's not just one team that is using this as an advantage but some clearly push the boundaries further than others.

Melbourne 2012 and the teams were using Off Throttle Blowing but the sound is much more attenuated meaning the effect has been quelled. However some teams definitely still have a more audible off throttle blowing sound. In the video below (Thanks MrJokerman001) we can hear many occasions where both Red Bull and Sauber have a more distinct over run note (Start with Red Bull at around 0.11 and compare the deceleration to that of the Ferrari following. At 1.06 the person shooting moves to another section of the track and you can hear the difference between the Red Bull, Sauber and Williams over the next few minutes)

At Barcelona this time we can hear below that McLaren are utilising off throttle at around 0.22 in comparison to the cars that proceeded it.

Valencia: A video I have posted in the past showing the Red Bull use of off throttle in low speed corners

As the ability to control off throttle usage filters down through the teams we will see all of the teams pushing the limits imposed upon them to gain an aerodynamic advantage. As we can see in the video below from Silverstone (Thanks fraserjhamilton) Caterham were using off throttle blowing to assist.

I have also previously talked about my theory of using Cylinder Deactivation in order to produce a more successful off throttle application, perhaps my intent behind talking about that subject wasn't clear enough but I'll try to briefly touch on this subject again now. (Having previously talked about cold blowing earlier in the post)

The advantage of Cold Blowing, Cylinder Deactivation & the Exhaust Resonator / Expansion Chamber would be that you would have a more tractable car. Lets look at the engine cycle to further explain my thoughts but we'll do it from the premise of a 4 cylinder engine to allow for an easier explanation.
Lets imagine that we are deactivating cylinder 1 & 3 that means you would normally have the inlet and exhaust valves closed and no ignition fuel sent to those cylinders during the piston stroke. However in order to cold blow lets imagine we continue to open the exhaust valve after the normal power stroke, the gas usually stored for the next cycle will be dispensed and cold blow. If this effect could be switched between cylinder banks after each cycle you would have cylinders 1&3 producing cold blow whilst 2&4 would produce the regular power cycle after this cycle is complete switch to 1&3 in the power cycle and 2&4 cold blowing. The largest advantage Red Bull would currently have here is the stored gas in the resonator / expansion chamber helps create a pressure drop in the cylinder sufficient enough to draw more air into the cylinder than would normally be the case when the inlet valve opens.

The teams are always intent on taking advantage of loopholes within the rules but in their quest for more off throttle effect perhaps we may see more cases of influence from other sectors to amplify it's effect.

(I have used amateur footage during this post as the footage available via the Broadcasters is always covered by commentary and onboard footage doesn't allow the sound to come across as well)

Above: The original picture from AMuS showing the Resonator/Expansion Chamber

Above: The image adjusted to show the exhaust and the resonator chamber more clearly

Silverstone saw yet another twist in
the application of Red Bull's exhaust package as they added a
resonator chamber to the collector. From the picture above trace the path the exhaust takes from the primaries toward the collector (single point where the 4 runners meet) you will see there are two pipes, the one that goes left is the exhaust outlet and the one that continues vertically is the resonator/expansion chamber.

Tied in with Red Bull Off
Throttle blowing using a chamber like this could smooth the
transition from On throttle to totally Off Throttle.

When the engine is on throttle the
exhaust gas moves through the pipes to the collector at which point
it will split to the resonator/expansion chamber and the exhaust outlet. This
process continues up until the point whereby the chamber is full and
the air inside the chamber at full compression, this then allows the
air to move freely to the exhaust outlet. When the drivers comes off
the throttle the exhaust gas dissipates and so the air compressed in
the chamber flows out through the exhaust outlet. This helps to
smooth the transition from on to off throttle minimizing the
aerodynamic losses which in turn allows the driver to pick up the
throttle earlier as more downforce is available during cornering.

The usage of such a pipe is obviously
not something that has been done in haste and will have been tuned to
the exact requirements of the Renault engine. Due to the packaging
required for the RB8 exhaust ramp exit the tuning length of the
exhaust has been compromised, this would lead to a decline in
performance during a set rev range. (This is not exclusive to just
the RB8's packaging) The use of the resonance chamber allows both an
airflow and sound shift further down the exhaust mimicking the effect
of larger/longer exhaust runners.

Timing the Inlet and Exhaust events
could also bore an advantage in terms of scavenging more airflow back
into the engine cylinder giving a larger reaction during the engines
power cycle. Technically you would leave the exhaust valve open for
slightly longer than usual on overrun in order to recapture some of
the air from the resonance chamber, this can be reused in the Intake
and Compression strokes to give a larger power and exhuast stroke.

It is also plausible that the chamber
offers further benefits in the shape of the Kadenacy Effect . The
Kadenacy Effect is the sound wave created by combustion. As the air
leaves the combustion chamber through the exhaust valve a sound wave
is part of the airflow (positive wave) when it reaches its outlet a
negative wave returns as the exhaust valve closes. Due to the
resonance chamber the frequencies involved will be altered and help
with the extraction of the gas that would normally be held in the
exhaust awaiting the next engine cycle, extracting more airflow than
an exhaust the same size but without the resonance chamber.

The effectiveness of a well tuned
resonance chamber in combination with the now limited off throttle
blowing will obviously have a larger effect on the Off Throttle effect than without the chamber.

Ferrari have already been using a Resonator / Expansion Chamber this season but I feel theirs is primarily focused at tuning the exhaust length rather than utilising the benefits that can be gained under off throttle events.

As you may have read in my previous
article
http://somersf1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/disparity-between-front-runners-lower.html
Caterham are a team that are looking to achieve far more than their
budget may allow. The wealth of expertise the team is now attracting
makes them a great proposition for the future but as that article
proves there is a disparity between front and lower tier teams. In
F1 you must run to stand still and so even the small teams must look
to make big gains in order that they aren't really trailing in the
wake of everyone else come the end of the season.

This weekend for me really goes to show
Caterham's ambition with almost a B Spec car arriving at their home
grand prix.

Front Wing

Front Wing Selection Available for Silverstone (New Wing at the Bottom)

It may seem like a small alteration but
as we know in F1 the finite details can make a huge difference. The
Wing planes have lost some of their bulk but the overall ethos
remains the same, the largest visual change here is the depth of the
cascades and them being pushed more inward from the endplate.

Sidepod Flow Conditioner

I chose this rearward angle as it best shows the seperation or gap in the flow conditioner

Caterham decided to go with a similar
design path as Ferrari here utilising a split in the element.
Usually these flow conditioners will simply aid in turning the
airflow that without them would spill outwards back toward the rear
of the car. They also manage the airflow spilt from the tyre as it
moves left to right under cornering. Having this
element split allows the airflow to be managed and energised creating
an airflow wall down the side of the sidepod. This will minimize the
airflow that downwashes over the top of the sidepod spilling
laterally off the side of the car.

Rear of Sidepod / Exhaust Solution

I have seen others mentioning the
exhaust tested by the team at Mugello as the version we see this
weekend but as we can see from the pictures below this particular
exhaust is actually a new component. The Mugello spec was a response
to the original Red Bull crossover/tunnel system with the flow
exiting into the coke bottle area and converging with the exhuast
plume. Caterham only tested the RBR style exhaust system on the
second day of the test and abandoned the setup for the final day
confirming that like Red Bull this method provided less aero
stability.

Caterham CT-01 Test Package for Day 2 in Mugello

The new exhaust solution (below) is
akin to the McLaren style of exhuast with an exhaust channel that
overhangs the rear floor in order to try and converge all the airflow
into coke bottle region using the exhaust plume.

Whilst on the subject of exhuast flow I'd like to present you with a statement from Thierry Salvi, Renault
Sport F1 Support Leader:

"Silverstone is a power
circuit, one where the drivers should spend up to 64% of the lap on
full throttle in qualifying. Obviously the weather conditions today
meant that the challenges for us on the engine side change, and we
have to work very closely with the team’s engineers to decide what
gear ratios will give us maximum performance in what could be a dry
qualifying session, but a wet race.

"Today we have also
been working with the team on optimising engine performance with the
updates that have been brought to this race. The main area of focus
for us is the revised exhausts, a version of which were first tried
at the test in Mugello but which have been revised and refined since
that test and require a series of new engine maps that help the
driver optimise all the performance characteristics of the engine
around this circuit. The immediate feedback we have had from both
drivers is positive so, despite the weather today, this has been
another good day for us and the whole team."

Engine Cover

Each circuit requires a different
demand in terms of engine cooling and so the cover used here at
Silverstone has been revised for the aero demands and to be in line
with the adjusted bodywork we see around the exhaust solution.

Monkey Seat that was first introduced in Valencia with a centralized Stalk mounted via the gearbox in the same way Williams do with theirs

This Williams-esque Monkey Seat uses a
stalk mounted atop of the gearbox in order to gain additional
downforce. It's exclusion from the usual beam wing assembly means
its interaction in terms of flex on that component is minimised
allowing the beam wing to function independently. The other thing to
consider with this stalk style Monkey seat is that it allows the seat
to act with the force impacted on it allowing it to move on it's
axis. This will allow the seat to add benefit in both cornering and
reducing it's drag element as it almost reclines at higher speed.

Although these are the larger, more visible elements bought to Silverstone in order to bring the team forward. I'm sure there are many more mechanical updates to take advantage of the additional downforce these elements produce. I'll add more as the weekend proceeds and the images become available for me to compare from the previous race weekends.

Whilst I'm trying to keep atop of the blog you may have noticed of late that there is less content appearing. For those of you that haven't realised, most of my work has now been moved over to Motorsport.com where I'm working with Giorgio Piola.

I'm still doing the technical image gallery for each GP with the continued support of friend of the site Sutton Images. However, as always my time is limited and so this might not be updated as quickly as it once was, so keep checking back.

As some of you may have found out already I'm also working with the Missed Apex crew on their podcast from time-to-time, either doing race reviews or dedicated 'Tech Time' shows.

I've embedded the latest version of the podcast below and will update this a frequently as I appear. However, please head over to Itunes if you want it to appear in your player when episodes are available. The show is great to work on and has a great lineup of 'regulars' but has also enticed some bigger names recently too, with Will Buxton and Bradley Philpot on shows during the summer break.

Total Pageviews

Social Media

Translate

Sutton Images

Sutton Images provide the best images direct from the action every GP weekend allowing me to show you just where and what the teams are improving.